The Things They See
by a.k.a.-ashley
Summary: Everyone has their own view of Peyton and Lucas' relationship including the couple themselves. This is how their friends and enemies see them. CH. 4 JAKE
1. Peyton

**The Things They See**

**Disclaimer**: The characters aren't mine of course.

**Authors Notes**: This whole story idea kind of snuck up on me and I wrote the first chapter in a few hours. It's going to take a back seat to my other fics, but I thought I'd put the first chapter up now.

**Summary**: Everyone has their own view of Lucas and Peyton's relationship, including the couple themselves.

**Chapter 1**:

I've seen the way he looks at me...

He's always had this ability to convey even the smallest emotion with his eyes. He says so much when he says nothing at all. When he looks at me I can see how much he truly loves me and it sends a shiver up my spine.

It hasn't always been easy for us, there always seemed to be an endless number of obstacles that had fallen in our path. When we first found each other I was in a mess of a relationship with Nathan and when that was over he found his way towards Brooke and then Nikki. I'd lost faith in him after Nikki, he'd become something I thought I'd left behind with Nathan. Somewhere along the way I'd lost him and he slowly realized he'd lost himself too. So he left Tree Hill and took off with Keith to live in Charleston. He never even told me he was leaving, instead he left me with a completely platonic apology letter addressed to me and Brooke. I was surprisingly upset by the fact that he had never said goodbye, and I found myself selfishly wishing he'd left me my own letter.

Unbeknownst to me Lucas had left me a letter with his mom. Karen had given it to me a few days after he left town when I stopped by the café for a cup of coffee. I was surprised when she handed me the small white envelope with my name scrawled messily on the front, Karen smiled having some idea of what the letter said. I kept the letter tucked safely into my jacket pocket until I was home and soon as I was, I headed up the stairs to my room closing the door behind me and pulling out the envelope. What I read was the most incredible thing anyone had ever written me.

_Peyt-_

_This isn't the way I wanted to say goodbye to you, in some letter that I was too afraid to give to you in person. You deserve more than this, especially from me. I've disappointed you over the last few months, and I regret that so much. And now here I am running off to Charleston no doubt disappointing you again. But you have to know that I'm leaving for a reason. I've become a person that I despise, but you're the hope I have for change. If I leave Tree Hill now I feel like I can get things back in order, become the person I used to be. I want to be a better person, that's what you've deserved all along. So I'm leaving for me and for you and for all the other people I've disappointed along the way. I'm sorry Peyton for all the pain I've caused you, I'll be back one day to make this all right._

_I love you Peyton and you're the only chance I'll take. _

_Lucas_

Lucas leaving Tree Hill was the best thing that ever happened to us and to me. I spent the summer doing the same thing he was, figuring stuff out. I put my life back in order and figured out what I really wanted. And what I wanted to be with him.

He called after he'd been in Charleston for almost three months. I was surprised to hear from him, it was the first time we'd spoken since he left. It was good to hear his voice. We made small talk at first trying to get comfortable and then suddenly it was like we used to be. He asked me about the letter he'd written and we talked about what he had said. I told him I missed him, he told me he was coming home. And he did come home, two weeks later on a Greyhound bus. I was there to pick him up.

We've been together since that day, almost two years now. Being with Lucas is something I don't ever take for granted, he's everything I've ever wanted. Before him I'd been with too many guys who treated me like crap, they didn't care about me as long as they got what they wanted.

I had my first real boyfriend my sophomore year, his name was Charlie Buchanan. After we'd been going out for almost a month Charlie told me he'd dump me if I wouldn't sleep with him, he said if I really loved him I would. I didn't want to lose someone who I thought cared about me, so I did it. I was only 15 and Charlie broke up with me a week later. I was devastated, trying to figure out what I had done wrong with Charlie. My insecurities had gotten the best of me, and I learned from some very unreliable sources that guys only stick around if you give them what they want and what they want is sex. My next three relationships were based on exactly that, there was Ryan Leland captain of the lacrosse team and Corey Russell who had his own garage band and then there was Nathan. I thought I was happy during all of this, I thought these guys really cared about me. No one ever likes finding out you're wrong, and I was really wrong. All I ever wanted was someone to love me who wouldn't leave. My mom left me and my dad is always leaving. I just wanted someone to stay, I found that person in Lucas.

He treats me like every girl deserves to be treated. We've never been big on the grand confessions of love like you see in the movies, but it's the little things, the details that are important to us. He gives me his coat when I'm cold, opens car doors, searches the music shops for vintage albums for my collection and he's finally convinced me to let him teach me how to shoot the perfect free throw. We spend nights at my house watching movies or listening to music, some nights we have dinner at the café with his mom after she's closed up for the night. It's nice to be that comfortable with someone, where you don't feel like you have to go out every night or spend lots of money on each other. I can just be myself with Lucas.

As blown away as I was when Nathan and Haley had told me they'd gotten married, I completely understand it now. They love each other and want to be with each other completely. I'm not saying I want to marry Lucas tomorrow, but I do love him that much. I'm barely 18 and I already can't imagine my life without him. We've grown so much together; I couldn't be me without him. It's like finding that proverbial missing piece of the puzzle, I wasn't complete until I found Lucas. I love him with everything I have.

Here I am getting all starry-eyed talking about Lucas, if someone would have told me two years ago that I would be this happy and this in love I would have never believed it. Who could have thought Peyton Sawyer, the ultimate pessimist, could be this... happy.

Love can make you do crazy things.

_A/N: Let me know what you guys think. Your reviews are so important!_


	2. Lucas

**The Things They See**

**Disclaimer:** The characters aren't mine of course.

**Authors Notes**: Keep reviewing!

**Summary:** Everyone has their own view of Lucas and Peyton's relationship, including the couple themselves.

**Chapter 2: **

**Lucas**

I've seen the way she looks at me...

The way she stares without fear of being caught, she can easily become lost in you. I blame it on her being a natural artist, the way she studies my features with such passion. We've been together for two years and I can honestly say that I have her face, her body, perfectly memorized; I know every scar, every freckle, every beauty mark. But she still searches my face like she hasn't seen it every day for the last twenty-six months.

I get caught staring every once in a while, but in my defense I can't really help but gaze at her. It's my favorite thing in the world, to look at her. To me she is always beautiful, whether she's sketching furiously and doesn't notice that she has charcoal smeared on her face and arms or when she's wrapped up in my sheets after we've made love following a Friday night date and her hair is messy and her skin is glistening with small beads of sweat.

I think, looking back, that I've always had quite the crush on Peyton Sawyer. The first time I ever saw her we were both in fifth grade, our classes were on a field trip to the local newspaper. She was sitting under the shade of a large oak tree during our lunch break surrounded by a group of giggly girls; one of whom I would later learn was Brooke Davis. I thought she was the prettiest girl I had ever seen with her long skinny legs and her knobby knees and that mess of untamed curls on her head. But I wasn't brave enough to say anything to her then, she hung with a totally different crowd and that stuff mattered even in elementary school.

So I forgot about her for a few years, I still saw her every now and then around town or at school. The innocent crush just kind of faded away, and my life became about basketball and books and not much else. And then I almost get run over on my way down to the river court one night and the driver of the car just so happened to be Peyton Sawyer. And suddenly my boyhood crush was back and I just kind of got lost staring at her, I would have kept staring at her if she wouldn't have honked at me and rudely waved me off. I knew I had to have this girl.

People made jokes about the brooding athlete and the tortured artist, but that's what we honestly were. She was still devastated by loss of her mom, and I was messed up about Dan. We were just two young kids who didn't really know who they were; we probably would have never made it as a couple the first time around. There was way too much angst shared between us, way too much.

While I was in Charleston I spent a lot of time sitting on the beach, the waves crashing against the shore just a few feet away. In all my seventeen years I'd never really looked at the stars, which is something everyone needs to do at least once. So that's what I did every night, I found this little spot a few minutes away from the apartment and it was void of people after ten o'clock. I would just sit there and let my mind wander, the whole thing was very effective the first few months with all that inner "turmoil" I had beginning to die away.

Things started to change after about two months. I was going to my spot less and less and when I did go I found myself wishing Peyton was there with me, I really missed her. I asked Keith what he thought I should do and his advice? Call her. So that's what I did, or at least attempted to. I'd get her number dialed but then I would hang up before she answered. This went on for a few days before Keith took the phone from me, dialed her number and kept the phone until she picked up, he smirked at me and threw the receiver into my lap. I talked to her for almost two hours that night, I told Keith I was going home a few days later.

So it's been a very good two years. And if things don't work out for us I'm thinking that my mom may kick me out of the house and let Peyton move in. She absolutely loves Peyton. I remember the first time we ever had dinner with my mom, after the dishes had been cleared they found their way to the couch and my mom pulled out her photo albums of my childhood. They sat there for hours and laughed at the pictures of me missing my front teeth or the ones where I'm holding my old stuffed bear that I named Harvey or the photo of me when I was first learning how to ride a bike. Peyton still kids me about the picture of me dressed up like a dinosaur for Halloween.

Peyton confessed to me a few months ago that she thinks of my mom as her surrogate mother sometimes. I know my mom likes to think the same thing. There are times that they will go and spend the whole day together, I've asked them what they do but it's apparently some big "girls-only" secret. Whatever they do I know they both have a good time, and I'm grateful to my mom for making Peyton feel like a mother's daughter again and I'm grateful to Peyton for making my mom smile again, smile a lot.

Being with Peyton is easy, although she would tell you different. She's never given me a reason to not love her completely and I don't think she ever could. There are times when I look at her and this feeling of complete bliss takes over my body. To me she is perfect in every way. I can't do better than her, she's everything I could ever want, need or imagine.

I'm hers forever.

_A/N: Hope you guys liked the chapter, review please and let me know what you thought. The next chapter of The Beautiful Dance is coming soon, if it's not up by the end of the weekend feel free to e-mail me and pester me until it's up. You guys deserve it! And I have to give a huge thanks to **lysser8312**, you are always giving me such great reviews and I appreciate them so much. So my next chapter of Beautiful Dance will be dedicated to you! I'm undecided about who the next p.o.v will be from, so tell me who you guys want, I can't decide._


	3. Brooke

**The Things They See**

**Disclaimer**: The characters aren't mine, blah blah blah.

**Author's Notes**: Sorry the updates haven't been coming quicker. I'm trying to concentrate on writing more. So read and review.

**Chapter 3** – _Brooke_

I remember the day Peyton's mom died almost as well as she does. It was a Wednesday afternoon in the first week of October. It was chilly that day, my mom made me wear this ugly sweater, which I promptly tore off and shoved into my backpack when I got to school. We were waiting together outside of school for our parents to pick us up, and eventually Peyton made some remark about her mom being later than usual. Her mom was almost thirty minutes late to school. Mrs. Sawyer was always someone you could set your watch by, it wasn't like her to be this late to anything. I was always the one waiting on the curb, long after school had ended, for my mother who was always late.

So we continued to wait, Peyton checked her watch every few minutes. My mom eventually showed up, forty-five minutes after school had let out. We told her what was going on and my mom thought it would be best if Peyton came home with us. I could tell Peyton was worried and I tried my best to make her feel better but nothing seemed to work.

Mr. Sawyer came to pick her up almost an hour later. I was only ten years old but I could tell by his face that something was wrong. And Mr. Sawyer never picked Peyton up, what was going on? I was confused and scared for Peyton. I watched in secret from around the corner as Peyton's dad talked quietly with my mom, he seemed so sad while he spoke. When he had finished talking, my mother reached over and hugged him. This was bad.

The next thing I remember, my mother called Peyton out of my room to tell her that her father was here. My mom pulled me into her bedroom and sat me on the bed. I asked her what was wrong and why Peyton's mother hadn't come to pick her up. She told me what had happened. Mrs. Sawyer was running late on her way to the school, she must not have noticed the light had turned red. My mom spared me the details a ten year old shouldn't know, but she told me Mrs. Sawyer had died instantly, she didn't feel any pain. All that pain was left for Peyton.

I never saw Peyton cry, not even at the funeral. From the moment her father told her what had happened, she closed up. She bottled all her pain and hurt and locked it all away. Peyton stopped letting people in, at ten years old she shut people out of her life and dealt with everything on her own. It breaks my heart now when I look back at what she went through. She must have felt so alone.

I made her a promise on the day of her mom's funeral that I would always be there for her. Whatever she needed, whatever she wanted I would help her anyway I could. We were only in fourth grade but I meant every word I said. I would never leave her.

From that point on we were inseparable. Her dad was always away for work and he was never good with the girly aspect of having a daughter. So I was the one who helped her buy her first bra, I was the one who showed her how to wear makeup when we were thirteen and I was the one who taught her about boys, however wrong I may have been about that subject. It was important to me that Peyton got to experience all the things she would have been able to do with her mom. I didn't want her to feel different or left out.

I loved Peyton, still do. She's my best friend. And it meant the world to me that she felt like she could trust me, I was one of the very few people she entrusted with that privilege. But I knew that I could never fill the void or heal the pain that was left by her mother's death. For a long time I thought that no one would ever be able to. And then Lucas Scott came into her life.

Their connection was immediate and lasting and I was completely thrown by it. To be quite honest, I was jealous of their sudden friendship. For six years it had been Peyton and me versus the world, and now I had to share her with someone else. I couldn't figure out why it had been so easy for Lucas to get close to her.

I realize now why their bond was so strong and so sudden. Peyton and Lucas share something that I have no experience in, and no, it isn't sex smartass. They both grew up with only one parent, their situations were different but the experience was similar. I grew up in the traditional nuclear family. A mom and a dad, a white picket fence and a golden retriever. I couldn't relate to Peyton when she talked about it just being her and Mr. Sawyer. But Lucas could relate to the single parent thing. It had been him and Karen for so many years, sure Keith was around but an uncle can't take the place of your father. They found comfort with each other and I started to get nervous.

Things started to change between Peyton and I, after Lucas was in the picture. She was talking to him more and more about her mom and her family. They were things she had never told anyone but me, I was threatened by that. Their time spent together became more frequent and more personal. I knew Peyton hadn't forgotten about me, she was still there. But I couldn't help but feel left out of her life. I knew it wasn't her intention and I wanted to be happy for her because she had found this great guy, but all I could feel was jealousy.

I knew what I did was wrong. I knew it was going to hurt her but I did it anyway. I went after Lucas, for the sole purpose of keeping them apart. I regret it so much now; I never thought it would hurt her as much as I did. It was one of the worst things I have ever done in my life. I never intended for it to become such a mess.

Lucas never loved me and I never loved him, I don't think I was ever close to loving him at any point. For Lucas I was a distraction, a way to keep his mind off of Peyton when things were complicated between them. I could see the pain in her face when she saw us together and I went out of my way to rub her face in it. The worst part about the whole thing was that I knew no matter what, Peyton was always going to stick by me. I was her support system she couldn't go without me. It was the most selfish thing I had ever done. I still don't know how Peyton forgave me.

But she did forgive me, after some time apart. And her and Lucas worked things out and they've never looked back. Lucas is the best thing that has ever happened to Peyton. I've watched her change over the past two years into a brighter and less angst-ridden person. They make a great couple and Lucas treats her like she's always deserved. He makes her happy and he makes her smile. He is the first guy she has ever loved, Lucas is a lucky guy to land my best friend. I think Mrs. Sawyer would love Lucas, I know I do in a platonic way. He gave me back the friend I lost when I was ten.

Peyton will always be my best friend. Time, boys and trivial fights can never change that. We've grown up together. We've been through heartbreak and tragedies, good times and laughter. Our friendship means the world to me and I know she'll always be there for me like I will for her. She's my best friend nothing can change that. She tells me all the time that being in love is the best feeling in the world, I hope I get to experience that some day. She makes it sound incredible.

_A/N: I portrayed Brooke a little differently than normal, a little more sympathetic maybe. Which is a hard thing for me to do since I loathe Brooke. Anyways review and tell me what you guys think._


	4. Jake

**The Things They See**

**A/N**: _This chapter was originally supposed to be from Nathan's P.O.V. but after the sudden return of Jake in "Don't take me for granted" I decided to focus on his important view. Updates for "Don't Let Go" and "The Beautiful Dance" are coming soon, as well as a new one-parter focusing on the return of Jake. That's got me all bothered as you can tell. In this story Jake never left town with Jenny_

**Read and Review!!**

**Chapter 4: Jake**

I loved her once. Maybe I still do. She was everything I ever wanted in a girl. She was beautiful, smart and incredibly talented. And there was something about the way her golden curls framed her face that made my heart skip a beat. But the one thing that made her different from any other girl I might have loved was the way she treated Jenny. I saw how much she cared for my daughter they shared a special bond. Peyton loved Jenny, and somewhere along the way I began to believe she loved me too.

We spent a lot of time together, hanging out at my house eating pizza or watching a movie. I enjoyed being around her. I failed to notice the fact that Peyton liked spending more time with Jenny than with me. I can see it now, and I don't fault Peyton for feeling that way. I never told her how I felt. I spent far too much time waiting around for the right moment.

A few months after we started hanging out I finally worked up the nerve to make my move. I wanted to tell her how I felt, to let her know that I thought about her all the time. That I wanted to kiss her and tell her I was falling in love with her. I left Jenny with my mom that night and drove all over town trying to find a flower shop that was still open. It was almost ten o'clock at night when I had decided to drive over to her house. I figured she'd be sleeping, but I had to tell her. She had to know. So I finally found an open shop, actually it wasn't open but there was a woman still inside so I banged on the door until she opened the door. I told her my story and she was kind enough to sell me some flowers, a dozen yellow daisies.

My heart started to race, as I got closer to her house. I went over my speech a dozen times in my head on the ride there. I was ready for this. But I felt my racing heart sink in my chest when I saw a familiar truck parked in her driveway. I didn't want it to be true. I parked my truck across the street from her house, killed my headlights and watched Lucas Scott get out of his truck and climb the steps to her porch. He rang the doorbell and waited patiently for her to answer the door. Peyton opened the door quickly and kissed him. I didn't know they had been going out for a few weeks, apparently they had kept it under wraps for a while. I don't think it was possible for me to feel any lower at that moment. I watch him hug her tight and she has a smile on her face that I have never seen before.

I don't know why I stayed to watch them, I should have left after I saw his truck in the driveway. It killed me to see someone else making her smile like that, that was supposed to be me kissing her and brushing the hair from her face. It wasn't supposed to be him. Lucas. He wasn't good enough for her, not for Peyton. I saw how his actions had affected her over the past year. I was there for her when she found out about Lucas and Nikki, it was my shoulder she cried on because of what he did to her. It was my house she ran to after Lucas left town, she kept asking me how he could leave like that. I wanted to tell her I would never leave. But I didn't. All the pain he had caused her, all the tears she had shed over him and in the end she ran to him. She chose him over me.

I felt like a voyeur hiding in the darkness of the shadows watching them from afar. They walked down the steps of her porch. His hand rested lightly on the small of her back. She was leaning into him and that smile still had not left her face. I wanted to run to her and tell her she was making a mistake, but it was no longer my place. He opened the passenger door for her, I scoffed at his attempt at chivalry, Lucas waited for her to climb in before he closed the door. I watched him jog around the front of the truck and climb into the driver's side. She leaned over and kissed him before he started up the truck and drove away in the direction opposite of where I was parked.

My heart literally ached as I watched him drive away with her. A wave of jealousy washed over my body. I wanted what he had, what he didn't deserve to have. I had never been the jealous type, but I couldn't bear to lose her. The envy eventually faded and was replaced by sadness. There hadn't been anyone in my life since Nikki, and I did love Nikki once a long time ago. I was about to pour my heart out to a girl who was in love with someone else, and it was obvious that Peyton was in love. I looked over at the forgotten bouquet of yellow daisies and suddenly felt like an enormous jackass. I rolled down the window and tossed the flowers into the middle of the street. The yellow petals looked even brighter against the black asphalt of the road. I drove away without a glance back in my rearview mirror.

After I found out about them things changed, Peyton didn't come around Jenny and I anymore. It wasn't her fault though. I stopped returning her calls and asking her to come over. I avoided her around campus and stopped hanging around the locker room with Lucas after practice. It was too painful, to see them together at school or around town. Peyton didn't know why I had stopped talking to her, she thought she had done something wrong or at least that's what she said in the messages left on my answering machine. It wasn't her fault, it wasn't even Lucas'. I had to move one with my life and forget about Peyton Sawyer.

I left Tree Hill soon after that. It wasn't all because of them, my dad was being transferred out of state for his job and I still needed my parents help when it came to Jenny. So I went with them. I put aside my feelings for a day, when I told Peyton I was leaving town. She told me she wished we were still friends, she didn't know what had happened. I told her we just grew apart, no need to tell her the truth now. She and Lucas came by later, just before we hit the road. He told me goodbye and wished me luck, Peyton gave me a hug. I wished then, like I did a lot, that things were different. She waved goodbye to Jenny who was buckled in her car seat already. Then I climbed into the drivers seat and drove away.

I realize now that Peyton has always loved Lucas. I could have saved myself a lot of grief if I would have admitted that to myself a long time ago. As much as I wanted to believe otherwise I know that she never gave me any indicators that she wanted to ever be something more than friends. I'm not angry or jealous of Lucas anymore. He's a very lucky guy to be loved by her. And as long as she's happy I'm ok.


End file.
